In this age of digitised communications and ‘authentic conversations with your community of followers’, it's refreshing to see there is still room for a good old-fashioned media publicity stunt.

A different, far more serious and potentially more deadly policy was the centrepiece of the visit. Your Democracy reposted an Op-Ed by Strategic Studies heavyweight Hugh White questioning plans to beef up America’s military presence in Australia. He concluded that:

Australia should tell Obama we take a different view on China.

A new Asia could evolve in which China exercises more power and influence than it has before, but does not dominate, and in which America no longer exercises primacy, but still plays a large and vital role. In short, an Asia in which the US and China share power.

This should be Australia's vision of Asia's future. We do not want to live under Chinse domination, but nor do we want to be squeezed by US-China rivalry. That is why, having given Obama a respectful hearing, we should explain why we take a different view. That is what good allies do.

This is an opportunity for our elected representatives to listen to the outstanding professional communicator of our generation, the finest American political speaker since Martin Luther King. First and foremost, Mr Obama should trigger awakenings about the importance of communication skills to politicians. After listening to him, Australian politicians should clear their eyes, look into mirror, appraise their own abilities, commit to raising their standards and taking away some of Obama's qualities by osmosis.

Oz news aggregator, The Wall, had the top 100 tweets that it updated during the 27 hour charm offensive, plus a number of stories.

Twitter hashtags went viral, with #Aubama topping the trends and #POTUSinOz competing for the most obscure tag.

Fawning would be a fair description of many of the tweets, mixed with the usual fixation on his plane and his car. Barack certainly charmed much of the local audience. For the other view see the Aus TEA Party’s OBAMA /GILLARD … Makes Me Sick! or Gillard is worse than Obama ???

Barb is also not a fan, tweeting this link to Rupert Murdoch’s online new.com.au. The newspaper version has the less tacky title ‘Touching times for Julia Gillard and US President Barack Obama’:

On a Presidential visit, there’s always plenty of news to, y’know, report. The US-Australia alliance. Security in the Pacific-Asia region. The expansion of US military presence in Australia. The implications of all this for China and India. Instead, we get this tedious, demeaning shit that I probably should come to accept from News Ltd by now, anyway.

Nick Condon was taken with the President’s speech to the Federal Parliament:

@nickcondon
Not gonna lie…. Obama is an incredible speaker. Amazing speech and only good things for Australia. #aubama 17 Nov

As Airforce One left Darwin, the US was leading the rest of the world at the end of the first day of the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne golf course. We might wonder how long America will be the unrivalled world leader. (Incidentally, neither Obama, nor this year’s Honorary Chair, Julia Gillard, was scheduled to visit the Cup.)

P.S. President Obama didn't need his free croc insurance this time but it could come in handy when he retires or is retired.

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1 comment

ACadman55

Why do you call Obama a mass murderer? A war criminal? Obama was going to Australia to mark the 60th anniversary of the ANZUS Treaty signing. This treaty was made to protect people not kill it and Obama went to Australia to commemorate this treaty.